Lock-hinge.



D. Q. TOWLES.

LOCK H|NG.

APPLICATION FILED ms. 28, 1916.

Patented Dec. 26, 1916.

i W1 A fll M; ITED STATES PATENT oF ic DANIEL oorennrrowtnsor roasts Isnmm; scorn. CAROLINA.

LOCK-HINGE.

Specification, Letterslatent.

Application filedlebruary 28 1916. Serial No. 80,968.

TouZLwhom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, DANIEL QzTowLes, a citizen of the United States, residing at Y'onges Island, the county. of Golleton and State of" South Carlina,have invented certain new and useful Improvements, in Lock-Hinges; and I do hereby, declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot'the invention, such aswill en:-

ahle others skilled in the artjtowhich it appertains to make and use the same. This invention relates to hinges, andmore especially to those which look, eitherl positively or frictionally; and the obi 01 the same to produce a hinge or pivot by means of'which a pair of members may. be connected, with. each other at various angles and perhaps locked in such position,'. and by means o fiwhich also the members may be adjusted longitudinally of themselves along. the leaves or elements of the pivot or hinge- In the accompanying drawings I have shown this improved hinge or pivot as applied to the parts of ascafiold bracket as for use in windows, but it will be obvious from the following specification thatthe invention is of much wider adaptabilityand therefore I should not be limited to this use.

- i the accompanying drawin'gsfFigure I :is a sectional view through a" wall and' window frame, showing ascaifold bracket mounted" on the window sill and with its parts connected by this improved hinge.

Fig, 2 is an enlarged perspective. view, of the hingev itself and the members which it connects. and Fig. 3" is a still i urther-"en larged sectional view on the l'inef33j of Fig. 2. Figs. 4' and 5' areinner" and outer views of one of the washer elements "of: this I hinge; and Fig; 6 is asectional detail showing the parts slightly separated and illustrating modifications or amplifications of the idea.

for fastening them in the position shown.

Patented Dec. 26', 19.1 6.

Bythe usezof my improved hingeno such additional member, or fastening means is necessary, because ontightenin up the hinge "as explained below the members 0 and U will be held rigidly in the position shown in Fig.- 1, and boards may be. laid across the hori'zonta'l memher H o'f 'the ,sca'f fold; bracket" from one window to another or from one side of the sillto the other side as usual. On the above understanding, v H

' letus then assume throughoutthis case that we are usingthe improved hinge orpivot to connect; two members H' and O. In a scaffold Bracket there may be two horizontalf members H, and these would be rig dly'connected hy. a cross barwhichdoes no'tappear in Eig. I but is shown in Figs. 2 and 3' and indicated by the letter C. i In the hinge alone, this cross bar is replaced bythe head of the "pintl'eorbolt as will be g explained.

Coming now to the details, of the invention, there are elements-Which may he called Washers if the device is considered as a pivotior leaves'if the device isconsidered as a hinge. washer on leaf 1 and the otherthe'female washer or leaf I1". The sizeand contour of these elements orjlea-ves arenot important, but they maywell be made-round as shown, and they are pierced centrally with holes 2 and 12' which" ali'ne when said elements are superimposed. Through these holes passes the pintle of the hinge which is herein @ne of these wewvill callthe male shown; as a bolt' 20 havinga head 21 in Fig.

6,. althoughthe crossbarG takes the place of such. head in Fig; 3. Onthethreaded end, of this bolt screws 51: nutwhich may be a thumb nut as shown at'122 or a plain nut as shown at 23. When this nut is setup tight it will be obvious that the contiguous faces of the two washers will: be brought intocontact, with each other, and the tighter the; nut is set upthe greater the friction generated by said contact. Ifitbe desired that these elements shall not turn readily on each, other, I provide their contiguous faceswitlr pro ections and protuberances about as SQBIIJH Fig. 3. Iftheseware quite pronounced asdesignated by numerals 3 and 1%, the nut maybe set up, sufficiently tight to: absolutely loclr the elements against rotation; but asshown in Fig. 6 these protu'bera nces and; depressions may be quite sma h merely rougl'ienjed in fact on the ad jacent faces as indicated at a and 14and if so it is possible for the elementsto turn one upon the other if the nut is not set up tight or if a spring is used under it as The outer faces of the described below. washers 1 and 11 are also made irregular in order that the members H and O which this hinge is to connect may not slip on the washers. This irregularity may be efiiected in a variety of ways, but in Fig. 3 it is shown as accomplished by cutting grooves or channels 5 and 15 diametrically across the outer faces of the washers 1 andv 11. If two ordinary bars H and O are to be connected as seen in Fig. 1, these grooves will be of a size to loosely receive said bars, and the latter will be longitudinally slotted as shown at 16 so that they will stand astride the bolt 20. I

With this construction, the parts are assembled as best seen in Figs. 1 and 3. When now it becomes desirable to adjust the member O with respect to the member H, the nut 22 is loosened on the bolt 20 which first frees the members O and H within the channels 5 and 15, and said members may therefore be adjusted longitudinally therein. A little further loosening of the nut 22 reduces the tension between the two washers, so that the proturbances 3 may slip from one depression 13 to the next, and

this permits the washers to be turned axially with respect to each other, when of course the members 0 and H are also swung around the same axis. After the desired adjustment of parts has been effected, the nut is set up tight again as will beclear.

I In Fig. 6 are shown several modifications or amplifications of which the idea is susceptible. I have made use of this View to indicate that the projections or protuberances a and depressions 14 may not be so pronounced as shown in Fig. 3, and it will be understood that they may not be rounded as shown so long as they are disposed around the central holes 2 and 12. In this view I have shown the element 11 as provided with a dove-tailed recess 15, and the member H dove-tailed to correspond. I have also shown the other element 1 as provided on its outer side with two recesses or more properly channels, one of which as indicated at 5 is semi-circular to admit a round member O, and the other of which as shown at 5 is angular to admit an angular member 0. It will be clear that the member 0 might have a quite wide slot 16 so that it is in e'fiect forked, and the parts 0 and O in Fig. 6 could be fork-arms. Also, without further illustration, it will be clearthat this member might be in two parts entirely separate from each other, and if they laid in the separate grooves or channels 5 and 5 they would be clamped to the hinge element 1 when the nut on the bolt is set up tight. For this purpose a large washer 24: may be necessary as seen in this view. I have also made use of Fig. 6 to show how the device might become a friction lock hinge instead of a positive lock hinge as doubtless the construction in Fig. 3 would produce. That is to say, a spring 25 is threaded over the tip of the bolt 20 after it is run through the various holes herein shown, and this spring stands beneath the nut 23with or without washers at either end of it as desired. When now this nut is set up tight, all parts shown separated in this view are drawn into close contact with each other, but the force which holds them in such contact is a yielding one by reason of the presence of the spring25. When therefore it is desired to adjust the members and the washers axially around the pintle, all that is necessary is to grasp the members H and O and turn them with sufficient force to overcome the tension of the spring. If this is not easy, the nut may be loosened a trifle and then reset after adjustment.

Thus it will be seen that my lock hinge is in efiect composed of a pair of washers peculiarly constructed so that their adjacent faces make engagement with each other when they are brought into contact and their outer faces make engagement with the members which it is desired to connect. The uses of such a device are many, and as first above explained I donot wish to be confined to such use upon a scaffold bracket only. Also as above intimated, the protuberances and depressions could take any shapewhich will set up friction between the contiguous faces of the washers, and they could be're-' duced in size to such an extent that this friction becomes very little; in fact, they could be done away with entirely if the nut be set up sufficiently tight.

What I claim is: 1

1. A hinge for connecting two members comprising two washers having their inner faces in contact and their outer faces provided with transverse channels of a size to loosely receive said members, and a bolt extending through said washers and their channels with its head outside one member and its nut outside the other.

2. A hinge for connecting two longitudinally slotted members comprising two washers having their inner faces in contact and their outer faces provided with transverse channels extending diametrically across the washer-holes and of a size to loosely receive saidmembers, and a bolt extending through said holes in the washers and slots in the members, for the purposeset forth.

3. A hinge for. connecting two members comprising two washers having their inner faces roughened and in frictional contact and their outer faces transversely channeled to loosely receive the respective members, and means for clamping the members in the channels and for increasing the friction between said roughened faces.

4:- A look hinge comprising two washers having their outer faces channeled to engage the members which are to be connected, a pintle pivotally uniting said washers, and clamping means on the pintle for simultaneously holding said members in engagement with the channels and bearing said washers into frictional contact with each other.

5. A friction lock hinge comprising a bolt and its nut, a spring on the bolt, and two washers also on the bolt having their inner faces roughened and adapted to make contact with each other and their outer faces channeled and adapted to adjustably receive the members which are to be connected, the setting up of the nut putting said spring under tension and clamping all parts frictionally in their adjusted positions.

6. A hinge for connecting members, comprising washers having their contiguous faces in contact'and each provided with an opening whose length is at right angles to the, aXis of the washer-hole and whose size is such that it will adjustably receive its member, and unitary means for clamping the members in their respective openlngs and pivotally connecting the washers.

7. A hinge for connecting members which are to swing in parallel planes, the same comprising washers having their adjacent faces in contact and each provided withan opening intersecting the washer-hole and of a size to I'QCBIVGHZS member, a pintle ex tendmg through all sald holes and across all said openings, and unitary means for 40 clamping the members to their washers and the washers together.

8. A hinge for connecting members which are provided with openings, the same comprising elements disposed between said members with their contiguous faces in contact and their bodies provided with alined holes opposite the openings in the members, a pintle extending through said holes to pivotally connect the elements and extending also through said openings to adjustably connect the members with their adjacent elements, and binding means on the pintle for holding all parts together.

9. The herein described connection for two members, the same comprising a plurality of washers disposed between said members and with their holes alined, a bolt extending through said holes to pivotally connect the washers, and means on the same bolt for holding each member upon its contiguous washer and permitting its adjust- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents Washington, D. G. 

